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Baby won't drink milk that has been frozen?

Last night we tried feeding our 11 week old baby girl breastmilk that I had previously frozen. It's only been frozen for 1 month max, and I was careful to handle it properly - it didn't sit out prior to freezing, I used Ziploc bags specifically for breastmilk, kept it in our deep freezer, etc...I'm also fairly confident that I thawed it properly, and we tried feeding it to her within a few hours of thawing. But she completely refused it. I tasted it & it's awful! No wonder she wouldn't drink it; it tastes sour or like vomit. She will drink fresh breastmilk from a bottle with no problem.

Re: Baby won't drink milk that has been frozen?

dear juleswc,
Foul tasting milk is usually due to the enzyme lipase.
Lipase is a naturally occurring enzyme that helps the baby digest the breastmilk.
the PP has a great link about how to solve this issue.
Good Luck!

Re: Baby won't drink milk that has been frozen?

There's also a great sticky at the top of this forum! I had this problem with DS and lost a bunch of frozen milk as a result...and my husband had a few VERY bad days with DS before we really figured it out. Hoping things will go more smoothly this time around with DD...assuming she'll ever take a bottle!

Good luck

Married to Jake 10/7/06
1st time mommy to Luke 6/24/09 1 week early but right on time. Was finally able to enjoy after good help from these wonderful ladies.

Now back to these great forums with the arrival of little girl Meghan 5/6/12 ...2 weeks early, but still right on time. Successfully delivered naturally this time around!

Re: Baby won't drink milk that has been frozen?

Oh, and just to add...if you end up scalding your milk, I also use a munchkin bottle warmer with great success. And if heating your milk in a plastic bottle doesn't sound right to you as it doesn't to me, I just use Dr. Brown glass bottles--the don't crack, at least not the small ones (I heat my milk to 165 for 15 sec). I then quickly cool my milk and THEN transfer it into whatever bottle I'll send to daycare, plastic or other, and put it in the fridge. Haven't gotten to freezing any yet...
Again, good luck!

Married to Jake 10/7/06
1st time mommy to Luke 6/24/09 1 week early but right on time. Was finally able to enjoy after good help from these wonderful ladies.

Now back to these great forums with the arrival of little girl Meghan 5/6/12 ...2 weeks early, but still right on time. Successfully delivered naturally this time around!

Re: Baby won't drink milk that has been frozen?

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I thought of lipase, but wasnt' sure if this was the problem since my milk didn't seem to taste soapy or metallic to me...it reminded me of vomit. Also, my milk seems to keep quite well when refrigerated, just not when frozen.

This is all brand new to me so I will take the above advice to heart! Thanks again